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Show PATRIA CHANNINQ MRS. VERNON CASTLE . . Clnr nJ Srpnnn'n hv donald parr Milton sills CTTJx 3 f siory una scenario oy BARON- HUROKI WARNER OLANp I B 11 a I!! 1 1 A ..;, mt,rn ,,,Hr FANNY ADAIR DOROTHY GREEN g JS , f 1 SJJ J M LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE And a cast of exceptional merit. mm f ' 1 " 1 ' - , Rend Thiv Sforv Nam Then See cLa (Li !. aGb international film service, inc. ieaa I ms ziory now men oee Under the dlrection ot wliarton, Ino. It All in Motion Pictures. A ROMANCE OF PREPAREDNESS c'i'LrUTK'-- INTRODUCTION. 1 Jaron Hurokl, chief of the Japanese secret se-cret service fn America, conspiring to embroil the United States with Mexico, .desires control of the great Channlng munitions plants owned by Patrla last of "The Fighting Channfngs" and eole executrix of a $100,000,000 trust secretly secret-ly created by patriotic progenitors to combat the national perils Inherent In 'unpreparedness." His schemes falling, thanks to the opposition of Patrla aided by her fiance, Captain Donald Parr, Hurokl causes a strike at the Channing plants. EPISODE EIGHT. RED NIGHT. The Spirit of Her Progenitors. SINCE early morning an unwonted, unnatural and wholly specious semblance sem-blance of tranquillity had brooded over the little valley In the heart of Hie New Jersey hilla. Now, as (he earlier hours of midsum-ner midsum-ner nfternoon drew on, a feeling of tension ten-sion bejran to inform the atmosphere; the lush be.srr.n imperceptibly to oppress the senses, even as that hush oppresses which "oretclls the breaking of a thunderstorm ipon a smiling land: instinctively men valked warily, with eyes alert, and com-nunieatet.l com-nunieatet.l with one another in accents leedlessly guarded. Within that vast congeries of gaunt wooden structures and walled yards which comprised the powder mills and muni-Jons muni-Jons factories of Channings. Inc., there ;vas little or no activity where ordinarily .here was incessant bustle. In 'place of those voluminous plumes of smoke, jet by day. crimson by night, the :owering brick chimneys stained the skies nly with transparent veils of amber -apor. Inside the factory buildings all ma-Mif ma-Mif nerv stood idle. The whistles had mounded by habit at S o'clock and at noon vlthout summoning to or delivering from ahor a solitary hand. No endless strings of freight cars heavy aden with explosives, arms and ordnance trudged up the long grade to the rim of Lhose encircling hills, on t he first stage 5f their brief journey to Channings' tide-ivater tide-ivater yards and docks near Bayonne. The premises were all hut lifeless; a scant v company of armed guards on vigi-ant vigi-ant patrol; a little knot of some half a. .lozen people in conference just outside the main gateway to the most extensive pow-ier-milland that was all. The strike was fourteen hours old. As i-et no ov ertures toward a conference had seen made by either party, employers or employees. The latter, indeed, seemed to ,iold aloof with singular stubbornness; to ?xcuse their action in walking- out at the previous midnight the employers knew of nothing more than a few minor grievances an the part of the men. matters susceptible suscep-tible to speedy adjustment through, and scheduled for early submission to, process Df arbitration. The major demands of the strikers remained unstated. But more than one of those who were waiting so patiently outside the gates ?ould have hazarded a shrewd guess at the real cause of the trouble. Half a mile distant lay Powder Town, an unlovely collection of "frame" and canvas can-vas shelters. gin mills, eating places, ance halls, gambling hells, stores ami "hotels'" ministering to the necessities and appetites of an army of working-men and parasites drawn together by the attraction attrac-tion of high wages and steady employment employ-ment offered by an organization working nteht and dav to fill "war orders" for the ELlllrfl. There, in the?4 strase'limr. dusty and rutted streets, the disa ffted employees milled like cattle, a rabble two-thirds drunk witii one intoxicant or another whisky, greed excited by the promises of l.-i bor nsrit;! tors, and a spirit of ne-structivenoss ne-structivenoss which had e'readv whetted Its M.ppeti ie by put Ting the Channings company store to the torch. To the pmup by the eateway the rumor of sullen voices was wafted, on the wines of a lazv wind, a srrim murmurtnsr like the buzzing of a yw.irm of angry bees. T,istenin- to it. Captain Parr shook an uneasy head. Pa (via eved him anxiously. "Wlut 0o y.-'U think ? "I'm not thinking." he averred with a sorry sort of a tmlle ; "I'm just honing ' "Hoping they'll hold off ?" "Hoping a-nint hope that the coming of ' lie strlkp-hreakers won't madden tlu-:n beyond control." The cirl uod;d gravel;-. 'Will it be nich longer do you Think?" "They oucrht tn be hre any minute, now." PxmiiM replied, giancing at his war -h. i "And if it does madden them ?" I '"We'll vnve :;r hands fuli." Mr. Oton fVrtra:u, grr.ral mnnngc: j for Ciiiumitigs. Tn. addressed Pntria with a maftitT of nervous iomposit y. "M'-s r'..i:ii;iiK " "Ves, Mr. r-.-vn-am?" "IVnti;! me to i;ike ortp Ir.pf effort to Inlliien."'1 von. There's liund to be r- rious trouble as soon as the strike breakers break-ers get here. We can hold them off till nightfall, with the men t we have perhaps. per-haps. After dark,, almost anything may happen. That attempt to blow us up this morning, in broad daylight, ought to convince con-vince you that we have only the worst to fear." "And so you want my permission to telegraph the governor to call out the militia?" "Such Is my earnest advice, Miss Channing." The girl shook her head with determination. deter-mination. "I won't permit that. It's wrong. It means in one word war. It means civil war. It means bloodshed, possibly manslaughter, man-slaughter, the killing of men wholly uninterested un-interested in this private quarrel between i Channings and its employees. We must' find some other way to cope with the situation without going to such extremes." ex-tremes." Bertram, his countenance dark with foreboding, gave up the attempt to persuade per-suade the giri as hopeless, and without more words moved away. "How can men be so unreasonable?" Patria complained. "Why won't they come to us and state their grievances? We've always treated them fairjy. If they'd only give us a chance " "They aren't unreasonable," Donald answered. an-swered. "They're misled. Unscrupulous leaders suborned by Baron Hurokl and his lot have blinded them to their best Interests. If we could only get at the men themselves " Patria nodded intently. "I'm sure I could influence them I wonder . " Without w-arning the hum of the mob i n Powd er T ow n rose to a high d i scor-dance, scor-dance, a clamor of angry yells. Not one of those about the gates but wa.s startled, star-tled, though all had been momentarily anticipating something of the sort. They consulted one another with anxious eyes, "Here they come at last!" Parr announced. an-nounced. "Now for the music!" Over the crest of a, little hill tha,t stood between Powder Town and the Channings' Chan-nings' mills appeared a motor-car running run-ning at high speed a car loaded to the limit of Its capacity with strike-breakers and carrying armed guards on the running run-ning hoards as well as in the seat beside be-side the driver. Simultaneously the uproar of the disaffected dis-affected drew perceptibly nearer. Dashing directly for 'the gates. It pwept through them almost without slackening speed, then pulled up smartly in tho yards, and discharged its ecu-pants. ecu-pants. Following it in close succession came another car similarly laden, and another and another a long procession of motorcars motor-cars to the number of sone thing mor. than twenty. The fifth had barely swung up over the hilltop when the vanguard of the strikers appeared in pursuit a disorderly cloud of I infuriated workingmert, running clumsily over the roadside fields, pausing only to pick up and hurl clods of earth and stones at the speeding automobiles. Few of these missiles reached their mark, one did damage, all were ignored by both ; guards and strike-breakers. By the time : the last car was safely within the gates, i a sullen and vengeful multitude had as- ! sembled in the open spaces before the i factory, a mob that wanted onlv a leader i to incite it to storm the buildings, its ! temper patently demonstrated by a scat- ' terlng of revolver shots from its midst, 1 punctuating an almost continuous flight of stones t hat rattled a.gainst the fence or fell inside the yard. T-ng before this Donald and Bertram had hurried Patria into shelter ami. leaving leav-ing her as they t hough t sa fely disposed of for the time being, had turned their attfnt'on to stationing the guards on the lnw platform that ran around the inside, of the fence a platform just hiqh enough to permit a man to spp and. if ricds be, : aim and fire over the barrier. Rot forced by th s; ri ke-bra kprs t he guards mpde quite a rpeota bio r ompanv , rf ric Tenders, hut still irignif-Vfint in numbers ns compared with thr erowd out- : sidp, n-r. inferiority that wis rjiMkv ren- , dered still more emphatio bv the addition 1 to the strikers of a considerable number of men armed with modern magazine : rifle?. ; Donald greeted the sight of these last' with a groan. "Tfnroki's hand!" commented be tween his teeth. "I knew he'd show it ' before long. "rhe union never supplied ' hose, weapons!" I A small h-'.nd tuccd at his slevf I Pairia's. TI:s indignation at seeing her 1 thus reckle.-sly exposing herself to possible possi-ble in.1-:ry almost outweighed his hove for the girl. "You promised h began. "I know but I've reconsidered. Pleas come in to the telephone gt the governor en long distance tell him we must have the m::;ia." With a no of rHIef Donald jumped' down from the platform and with Patrla : it i;is side ran across the v;ird toward. in o:V.f of the supf-rimriKifrt.. Several revolver and ri Tip shots mng n:t iipfore they replied thp building Ovjpg orders the gu-.nls r.tid snike-t.roak-'rs were firing over rh hf;ids of the mob Jn an endeavor to frighten It off. Seizing the receiver of the instrument on the desk nearest the office door, Captain Cap-tain Parr called again without response. He got no answer whatever. "The wire's dead probably cut," he announced, hanging up. "We're cut off from the world. Now we shan't be long finding out how many of these lunatics are willing to die at Huroki's behest. Stay here till I send word it's safe to come out." He ran hastily out into the yard. As he did so a scattering volley sounded from beyond the fence and one of the guards pitched backward from the platform, plat-form, shot through the head. Incontinently his comrades began to shoot to kill. , Seizing the rifle of the fallen man. Parr jumped to the platform. The weapon was at his shoulder and hia eye was sighting i along its barrel when he became aware of a sudden lull in the uproar, a lull in , which Patria's voice sounded high and true: "Cease firing! All of you cease firing, 1 1 say!" With a gasp of horror, Parr saw the girl running out into the open space between the fence and the advancing rabble, and understood that she had taken advantage of the general preoccupation within the yard to open a small gate and take this foolhardy risk. The astonishment with which both par-j par-j ties greeted her appearance brought about a complete cessation of hostilities. The defenders held their breath in terror. The attackers stood gaping, rooted in amaze. "Without hint of fear or doubt the girl paused within a dozen paces of the foremost fore-most rank of strikers, when she paused, and stood quite still, facing them with adorable courage, her head high, a brave color flaming, in her cheeks. In the dead silence that ensued, her accents rang clear: "I beg of you to listen to me till I have finished. I am Patria Channing. I own these factories. I am the one you have worked for. I -want this nonsense to stop instantly. If you have been unfairlv treated, it is not by my order, " and I pledge myself to see that your wrongs are made right. But first you must tell me what you have to complain of." She waited an instant, but got no response. re-sponse. The strikers stirred uneasily, and murmured a little together, but none appeared as spokesman. Again Patria addressed ad-dressed them. lifting an arm to point out three of those who stood nearest her. "You have an intelligent face and you and you. Come forward, pleas, and Aell 'me what it Is that has made you take this attitude toward Channfngs." Almost reluctantly, certainly sheepishly, sheepish-ly, the men indicated moved toward her. One began to speak, a brawny creature with a face of thoughtful cast, now that surprise had modifipd his passions. His voice was low pitched, his words were indistinguishable to Donald; but he talked earnestly and, it seemed, well brWlv and to a point and finished to approving nods from his companions. Instantly the girl replied in tones that carried distinctly to the farthest rank of strikers. "If what you say Is true, the matter shall be set right without a day's delav. And every reasonable demand yu may make is granted I, Patria Channing. give my word of honor to that! upon two conditions." con-ditions." She paused briefly; the stillness of un-I un-I divided and respectful attention was accorded ac-corded her. "I want every man of you to agre to train himself at my expense for military service in the defensfof the United States. Channings will meet ver hill, for your time and for everything else, if you will consent to prupare yourselves to defend your homes against foreign aggression. ag-gression. Do you agree? Spontaneously a fheer answered hr. And cheer after crashing olu-er followed. It was some minutes before she was ab to continue. Tn that interval her quirk pyes, searching the crowd, picked out two countenances only too well known to her on the outskirts of the crowd faes tint, almost alone among all those th-re, faiied to reflect the enthusiasm her words had excited. "Secondly, she cried, when at length she could make hsc.lf hen i d. "I want your rromie to hav- no more to do with these who inoitcd this strike. I do nnt rrif-an ycu are to be without loaders or tn give up your unions, but that you must cast out t hose lea d ers who h vp misled yon into striking in the inf-restc or the enemv. For it is ;r. enemy of this country coun-try who brought this strike about. Japan conspires o embroil the Unitr-d Ftate-s with Mexico in ornnr to pave ihf way for the Japanese invasion of the wr.q r':-t. ThTfore Jarn would l:k-- to gM control con-trol of. or. failing that, de:- rov, the Channings Chan-nings munitions plants. Therefor Japanese Jap-anese and Mexican c nsr ira tors paid tati-is to bring thjs p'rike about. I T-rean tho?e men." Tier oijTfiung arm d m a ; i c p v designated desig-nated the two on the enge of the --mwd. "I mean Paron TTurohi, Juan dc Lima, and all who are ':'U ti.em!" Therp wa s a s .idden turning of hf-ads and craning of neks in tho indicated di rection. Those nearest Huroki's party moved threateningly toward it. Then a striker's voice was uplifted, hoarse with fury: "Kill 'em! Lynch the spies!" Instantaneously an ugly growl responded. respond-ed. There was a concerted movement of the crowd toward the Ill-starred conspirators. con-spirators. Prudently, the conspirators turned and fled, the pack snapping at their heels. By the narrowest of shaves (It was later learned) they regained their motor' car and escaped with their lives. "The riddle." Donald propounded quite seriously "the riddle is: When and : where will Huroki strike next?" i Patria nodded patiently to Indicate In- ' dorsement of this rather obvious proposl- ; tion, then a bit wearily to signify her complete ignorance as to what the answer might be. Tonight she was feeling very nt Indeed. In-deed. Captain Parr had brought her home ; from Powder Town in ample time for her; to take a long nap and in other ways ; make herself over into a new woman be- , fore dinner. And now, at something later than 9 o'clock, she very much wanted to amuse herself see a play, or take a hand at auction, or dance, or do anything else that a normal youitg woman finds healthily health-ily diverting. And she couldn't. It was absolutely prohibited. She dared not step outside 1 the door, for fear lest Huroki had ferreted ferret-ed out her hiding place, in Donald's lodg- ings (vacated by him to provide her with a secure refuge), and laid some trap for her. "We can feel sure of only one thing tha t he'll strike, and strike swiftly and unexpectedly. It's open war between you now wa r to the knife. You've publicly denounced him. He must either disappear, disap-pear, or find some way to silence you permanently. I wish I 'knewl I wish I knew!" Anxiously pacing the confines of the sitting room. Parr kneaded his hands together. to-gether. The telephone brought him to an abrupt pause. "Hello?" he called, receiver to ear. A look of perplexity clouded his face. "Who?" he demanded. "What's that?" He railed impatiently: "Hello? Hello?" then jigaled the hook, said, "Oh, ho has?" ungraciously and hung up. "What is it?" the girl demanded. j "The answer to my riddle perhaps." he informed Patrla. "I don't know. It's, a queer business. Whoever called up S3id ! all in a breath: 'I'm a friend never ' mind my name. TNI Miss Channing to be on her guard against trouble tonight at the Channing docks near Bayonne. 1 Huroki means mischief !' Then he j stopped short, with a. sort of gurgle, as if somebody had clapped a hand across his I mouth. I heard a hang, as if the receiver j at the other end had fallen on something I hard. And then central reported: 'The party has hung up.' Who t. i he deuce.'" Patria was on her feet. "The Bayonne docks!" she repeated thoughtfully. "Where your out put is Ftored pending shipment to Burope." Donald explained. "Bertram told me this afternoon that there must be STiflniOo worth of arms, ammunition and other explosive? accumulated accu-mulated there. If Huroki could manage to toiK'h a r-park to that !" ' "Donald! You don't think ?" "I think he'd have a hard 1nb doing It, but I know he'd try if lie thought of it-out it-out of sheer, cussed hankering to Ret even with you if for no more weighty reason." Donald picked up his hat and threw a I light top'-oat o' er his mm. "You're not going " "T "uiv-iy am. I mean to have a. look I over the .round down there and have ; extra k";h's j osu-d before midnight ; the tra litionn! ounce, of prey nt ion. You j needn't worry; it's no pre a t trip; I'll be jhn.k a little after 1 2. and I'll ra' votj up ! as soon as I can get io a t 'dr-phonc ! ' ' B u t it w av some, time before he wa ' nhie to tin io k her arms and find the j door. I in th course of the ii''Vt two hours th i girl fretted h'rself almort hevond en-jdjrance. en-jdjrance. Her disappointment on answer-ling answer-ling the door, at tiip end of that period, j in re- ; 'Oi ,se to a ring, wa s a r-i j t e! v pain - ful; 'he man on i the threshold was, not . lier Domhl come bark ln safer.", but hW ! lieuu-r.a nt. I'.yiey. seeking r-Hi.taln purr I on a matter -of pressing business. ' Informed as to the errand which had cahe-j Donald abroad, the detective manl-i manl-i fes;ed profound uneasiness, "I did mv best to dissuade him he woul;nt listen! Whrit ran we do?" i "I'm L'oing ar.er him." , "I'm oir:g with vou, then." ) "Fh-ase. mi no!" Tlyh-y's nroief-'ts wrr unavailing. TTas-itily TTas-itily snatching up a Imi and wrap, Pairia 1 hirr'-d on a c o rtij a n v n - the man. i "H hr,: v.-.Jl it take us?" ph; asked ! h" hnrrh-d up the street, in search .Of f, T;;vi,.:ih "I d-.::': J:nrw, it defends on the train .-ervi- e--a t i J I don't know bow that run:- 1 "Wi.-ihi:''; it he quicker for us tn go bv I wa It'.' I ' v r. gr. t a fa -1 po v. e j- boat i n corn mh ion a i the Nur! h I-tiver Yacht i club. Lf it would .save time " Before midnight, then, they were afloat, the boat speeding down the quiet Hudson, Patria at the wheel, Ryley standing on lookout In the bows. At about half after twelve they rounded Paulus Hook, and hearing a heavy detonation deto-nation roll across the waters, looked up to see the southwestern sky aglow with flame. I"p forward Ryley ealuted this phenomenon phe-nomenon with a smothered imprecation denoting confirmation of his direct apprehensions:. appre-hensions:. In the stern Patrla made no sound. But for a full minute she was quite sure that her heart had ceased to function. When she breathed again, she bent over the engine and advanced the spark and opened wide the throttle before speaking. "The Channing docks?" she called to Ryley. He answered reluctantly: " Frald so, miss." Momentarily now, as the power boat forced swiftly through those dark and gleaming waters, the conflagration painted paint-ed the night-enshrouded skies with more lurid and terrifying tints. Momentarily explosions resounded in greater and greater volume. At one o'clock precisely while the boat was still at a safe distance came the most violent detonation of all. The earth rocked, the sea quaked, the very firmament seemed shaken by the terrific forces unlea shed by the flames eating their way into the heart of that seven million -dollar hoard of explosives. The shores vomited like a volcano. Windows Win-dows were shuttered at a distance of ton miles. One such window fell inward to the floor of a room in tho Murray Hill district dis-trict of New York, where Baron Hurokl. of Tokio, sat in quiet confabulation with Senor Juan de Lima, of Mexico. The Japanese consulted It is watch and arched a quizzical eyebrow at his colleague. col-league. "Our seven mill ion -dollar earthquake, my dear d Dima!" he said blandly. Five minules later Patrla laid hr power-boat alongside a. schooner that lay moored to tho northernmost of the Channing Chan-ning docks. Kyley swarmed up over the schooner's fiMe and made fast the painter to find, when he turned, Patria at his elbow. "You stay het'p, miss." he shouted to make himself heard above the din of the conflagration. "I'll find Captain P;Wr if he's hero to he found, mid bring him back to you." "But when he ran up the gangplank to tho dock, Pairia was by his side. Bowing Bow-ing to her indnmiiable courage, he made no more protest, but hurried on with her into the heart of that hell which ya.wned for them ashore. It was ns If the erth itself had flowered flow-ered in devastating flame. Following the snur-lino of rails that ran from tho dock to t he Fhore, they fought their way on, scorched by flami, deluged wl t h hi 'arks, dra fened with the Incessant detonation of shells exploding ln burning freight, oars, dazzled to blindness. blind-ness. eventually, on 1 he verge of abandoning abandon-ing their efforts a; wholly hopoless, they st um bled acr o: s Urn body of Donald prone bet v. een tun l!n a of i a lis. beside tho ruins of a. f?v ichf car already consumed con-sumed to iff trucks. tnsenvlbir- whrn 1hcy lifted him up end, with orio of liio arms hojoss a idioulder of ea' h, they d t a cf'.ed nim back towards the water; he came to after a time a ba.dly sin red and badly f-.liakon Donald, but in no way S'-i io i isl v Injured. Thereafter he ,, i,is part like tho man he v.a:-s, pot onh' lairing faro of himself, but n id I nr. the failim? effort?; of Patrla to keep moln Ti.e ejrj wa 8 half fainting with fatigue fi'i'i ha:-d--hlp. Kbo dragged on 1hc arm that Donald had wound round iter like : thing tna idni'i to. In some ma i) urr. of which none re-talra-'i roher'-nt u n d th a ; i d ! n k t h rou Kh 'ome miracle.- the t nr e regained t Iip dock ;n,d f Ta ":;c-ed down it tn the schooner. Quarks flyimr on th- nh:bt wind had al-reailv al-reailv M-t lire to the v;m-I. To reealu tho Dumb, 'heir one no;e of ewap'. ttvy had to ro.s a. dec); that Bpowed s-mol:e from ev.uy r-'am where it wa.3 not ai ready a 11a me. bea viiii: ji-mabl lo care for Patrla, "Ryley "Ry-ley threw hioifvlf on aiiead to unmoor t he pow r boa t . ,V-i he did -o, and swumr round to give aid If need l-e. the . 1 1 , i( l-ftweeri Mill and tho.'-e two l hinder ir:.' (ii;ui-y caved in and a she. i o- IDme :t,o; up. With a -i the det.-. f ie dropped ovi r the fi' - e in' o the (,; t and pushed off. At a lit Mo d-!a::ce he looked back, and erje-i m,t in wonder to scj the J j pr ures of Don.-hi a t- ' i 'a 1 ria ha !f wpy Tip th foreman;, 'he l;unr:ry i lames leaping t.i-:iL-eiv f,- i u ir fcf. With i 1 1 ' i 1 1 1 1 ' e.ert;on, slowly they climbed on and on. d"L-:;f.d ever by the flames. A slh-ht c-. plosion noundi-d in the hold of the schooner. ') he Mames shot hlcher. The mast rocket, tottered, s waved like a broken rfp'd. and crashed over the fcide, carrying the lov.--s with It. f'I'o ho continued.) |